Petition For Love
by embracing-shadows
Summary: When Nick refuses to come out to his parents, Greg must prove they will be fine with it. But of course he has to do it in a way that only he could come up with.


Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot!

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Nick sighed as the door closed behind Greg and let his head fall back on to the couch. He was exasperated because they had had this conversation so many times and script never changed. Greg still couldn't understand why he wouldn't come out to his parents and admit that they two of them had been dating for over three years. And he still couldn't make Greg understand that they were from _Texas_, one of the most homophobic states in the US. It always ended with Greg leaving for some alone time, although this time he was supposed to be leaving anyway. Nick's parents were coming to visit, which is what had sparked the argument today.

Another sigh and Nick closed his eyes. He hated that he was hurting his boyfriend. He hated knowing that he would never be able to propose to Greg unless he confessed to his parents that he was different, as he had once heard his mother put it. But he was afraid of being disowned, or something equally horrible. So they kept having the same fight. Luckily it hadn't started tearing them apart. Yet. Nick's thoughts were interrupted by knocking a few minutes later and he knew Greg had left just in time to be out of sight before his parents arrived.

The Texan heaved himself off his couch and slowly padded over to the door, taking a deep breath before checking the peephole. Indeed, his mother and father were standing there, slightly distorted, waiting on his front doorstep. His mother was wearing some kind of horrible pink tweed pantsuit, and his first thought was that Greg would declare it a fashion emergency. The thought itself made him want to frown and smile all at the same time. His father was dressed in his usual business suit, complete with tie and pipe in hand, and that only made him smile. After taking all this in within seconds Nick stepped back again and grasped the handle. He took a second deep breath before twisting it and opening the door to reveal himself wearing a great big welcoming smile. Jillian and Bill smiled back at him and they all exchanged hugs before he invited them in.

"It's been much too long darling, I do wish you could have come home for Christmas this year," his mother stated as she made herself comfortable on the couch. Nick gave her a wry smile and a nod. He would never admit it, but he was pretty glad he had moved away. Home had become stifling over the years, and he liked having his own space here in Vegas.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just couldn't get the time off." It was a lie of course. He and Greg had taken the same vacation time and escaped to Lake Mead to spend some quality time alone together in a teeny tiny tent. Really it was meant for one person, but they had solved the space problem with great efficiency. Ok so they basically slept naked and twined together, but they did that every night anyway, and they enjoyed it, so it wasn't that big of a deal. He had told his mother that his boss had needed him to work during Christmas, feeling only minimally guilty. She knew how much he hated family gatherings, complete with annoying aunts and crusty old grandparents.

The three of them talked for quite some time, catching up on family gossip and regaling each other with stories from work. After a while Nick got up to cook a hearty dinner for them, just to prove that he was fine out here on his own. He could take care of himself. His mom still didn't believe him when ever he told her that, so every time she came to visit he made sure to demonstrate every way he could that it was true. Just as the timer went off saying that he should flip the steaks he had on the plug in grill, there came a knock at the door. He frowned because he hated door-to-door salesmen.

"Dad, would you mind getting that?" he asked as he hauled himself off the couch. His father had been standing next to the door anyway, examining the really cool backwards clock Greg had bought him for his birthday last year. His father nodded and reached for the handle. Nick was almost to the kitchen when he happened to look over. The door opened to reveal, of all people, Greg. In and of itself, Greg actually knocking was odd. Nick was sure Greg didn't even know how to knock on a door. He just let himself in without invitation. But…he had _just_ left. What was he doing here? Nick opened his mouth, but Greg was grinning and not even looking at him. He was looking at Nick's father.

"Good day sir are you the man of the household? Good. May I ask you a few questions? Excellent!" His speech came rapid fire and he didn't give Bill Stokes enough to time to even think of an answer to either question before he kept right on going. Greg held up a clipboard full of writing and looked up at Bill. "I represent a group of citizens concerned about the presence of sodomites in our midst and I was wondering if you would sign a petition banning them from gaining marriage rights?" Nick's jaw was almost literally hitting the floor. What in hell's name was Greg _doing_? _HE_ was a sodomite, to use the harsh term himself. And as far as Nick knew, no petitions of that sort were currently going around. He kept his eye on that sort of thing these days.

He was once again just opening his mouth to ask what was going through his lover's head when he was beaten to the punch. His father's grip on the door handle tightened to a white-knuckle grip and his face went red with sudden rage. His brown furrowed and his mouth turned down in to his 'judge frown' as Nick had once dubbed it.

"How _dare_ you? You closed minded groups need to learn to mind your own business! There is nothing wrong with two men getting married; if they love each other they have just as much right to marry as a man and a woman. Now you get off this property or so help me God I will charge you with trespassing!" Cisco's voice boomed throughout the home and, were it a lesser man standing in front of him, they would have cowered. Greg, however, only grinned like a madman and stayed where he was, almost vibrating with the effort not to laugh. Nick let out a strangled noise and finally managed to spout his incredulity.

"Greg, what the hell is wrong with you?" he spewed out in a half yell. It broke the blonde's self control and he let out a brief bark of laughter before regaining control. Cisco's head whipped back and forth between his son and the man outside the door.

"Nicholas, you _know_ this man?" his father demanded. Nick pinched the bridge of his nose as Greg literally danced on the spot with glee, clutching the clipboard to his chest like a precious item. In all likelihood, what it probably read was some nonsense about kitties and rainbows, senseless words whose only purpose was to fill the page and make it look marginally professional.

"Greg," Nick sighed and dropped his hand, glaring out the door, "is my boyfriend. And this is his way of proving that you wouldn't freak out that I'm gay." Cisco's eyes landed on him and stayed there, wide and only half believing. The moment was broken when Greg tilted half of his body sideway comically and grinned widely like only he could.

"I told you so!" he triumphed in a singsong voice. That did it.

"You're dead!" Nick screamed, bolting towards the open doorway. Greg gave a good-natured scream of his own, throwing the clipboard haphazardly in to the air and taking off. Nick chased him with a roar and they both disappeared around the side of the house. Bill and Jillian stood there bemused until the distant screaming came closer again and the two grown men came charging around the other side. Greg was flailing his arms and laughing like some insane child, and Nick's face was twisted in half anger half amusement.

Greg's face was picture perfect when Nick finally tackled him and they rolled head over heels together on the lawn. Nick tried to hold him down, but found his boyfriend squirming out of his grasp and the younger man flounced around him a circle, capering about and performing some form of tribal victory dance.

"I hate you," the older man grumbled from his spot on the lawn, winded from all the running with no preparation before hand. He had momentarily forgotten that they were now back in view of his parents. Greg just grinned and skipped back out of his reach, sending him a raucous wink.

"No you don't," he retorted. Nick sighed and heaved himself to his feet.

"No I don't," he agreed. "Why do I love you Greg?" he asked, shaking his head and twisting to wipe the grass off of the back of his shirt. Suddenly Greg was still, and all traces of amusement were gone from his being.

"Because not every one in the world thinks it's wrong," he said quietly. Nick stopped and gaped at him, stunned both by the sudden seriousness and the abstract depth of the statement. No matter how much time went by the blonde never ceased to amaze him. A smile spread itself across his face and he stepped over to thrown his arms about his boyfriend and twirl them both around. He took a deep breath, released it and shook his head.

"You amaze me," he admitted before placing a gentle kiss on Greg's lips. Greg smiled and coughed in to his hand, looking pointedly over Nick's shoulder. The Texan looked behind him and cringed a little when he realized belatedly that his parents had been witness to that entire transaction. Ah well. He had, in a sense of the word, just come out to them moments ago. Why not prove it true?

They took it much better than he had ever imagined. His mother was wearing some misty eyes expression that he had always pictured her wearing at his wedding day while muttering some womanly nonsense about how proud she was of him. His father was standing with his feet planted, his arms crossed, and the biggest smile on his face that Nick had ever seen. They were perfectly content and seemingly unsurprised. He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at them. His father chuckled and stepped out the front door, striding casually across the grass towards them, unperturbed by their intimate pose.

"We figured it out years ago, son. Figured you would tell us when you were ready." The judge let a wry smile twist his mouth. "Took me a while to come to terms with it, but I have no problem now Nicholas. As long as you're happy, I'm happy for you." Then his eyes left his startled son and zeroed in on a still madly grinning Greg. "You, however, seem to be happy enough for all three of us," he commented with a raised eyebrow. Greg threw his head back and laughed uproariously. Still unsure of what the hell had just happened in the last ten minutes, Nick shook his head and led them all back inside, where Greg made his famous coffee, and got to know his parents. Nick could only sit and watch in wonder, and wonder what he had done right in life.


End file.
